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Taranism
Taranism is how the most prevalent faith among the Taranic peoples is called. Taranism is not a religion with a set canon like Marism is. Taranism varies greatly between the various Taranic peoples and has many different strains. However every form of Taranism shares similar concepts that make it distinct from others religions. Common Concepts of Taranism Melendiris Melendiris is best translated into "Serenity" or "Balance" it is the central concept in Taranistic faith that keeps the Universe together. The Taran believe that the world is in constant struggle between Order and Chaos. Chaos means an ever changing force that keeps anything new to be created and destroys it before it can manifest. Order on the other hand is total stagnacy, nothing new can be created, because everything old has died and ceased to move. At the beginning of Creation the world was in perfect balance. Everything was perfectly aligned to be in its place and every motion was planned by the Creator. The Gods, the Genegest were created to watch over this perfection and keep it that way. However during the first betrayal earthly Melendiris was broken and thus it is now in struggle. To keep the world going humanity has to keep balance within it. Achieving Melendiris is thickle thing. Many thing that although it can be achieved it cannot be experienced, because in the moment you observe it you are already leaning towards order and try to force it. Melendiris, especially the Chylaiist definition cannot be conciously experienced, because in the moment you know you have achieved it, it is already gone. Irentash Irentash can be both translated into "Blood" and into "Soul". The Taran believe that one's blood is the physical manifestation of their soul. There are various believes where our blood stems from. Many believe that humans were created from the earth and from the blood of the Creator, others believe that women were created from the blood of the Creator, while men were created from his semen. Others believe that both our blood and our souls are not from one Creator at all, but that humans came into being alongside the Gods, independent from their will. Taras Taras is to be translated as "Honour", "Respect" or "Dignity". It is the concept that is vital to all Taranic societies. The Taras describes how you should treat others, how you should appear and how one should interact in society. A central aspect of Taras is the community and service. The realisation that everybody had to do their part and their existence depends on others doing theirs. Authority and responsibility go hand in hand and many taranist philosophical texts describe what could be called open rebellion. One should be open with their allegience. It should be better to be in open rebellion than in service with traitorous feelings. Of course as one can imagine this ideal state of open allegience and open rebellion is rarely the case. Radical Taranists often say:" From the highest King to the lowest peasant, everybody is a slave. Without honour as their master their life would be meaningless". "Glod swara siskris, fei aiashim kirek tar kirishim liri. Glod Vjadus tarashgil minleshgil". Tensis Genegewna, the Book of the Gods The Tensis Genegewna, the Book of the Gods was written during the reign of Emperor Nerim Dene'Illar. It has not the claim to be a canonical work on the Taranist religion, but rather is seen as a collection of myths and the history of the Taran people. The stories in it can be understood in a literal sense, but don't have to be. It begins with the legendary creation of the world. Even this story differs very much between different taranic peoples. The creation story in the Book of the Gods is a compromise in which they took the most commong themes among all the different stories and tried to mediate between them and so create a something which has at least one thing in commong with all others. "Riel palakashde Kinritis lmech" "At the beginning was a storm" The Book of the Gods begins. The Book does not make any claims how this storm came to be. Many believe in a cyclical world in which one world dies in Chaos and another in Stagnation, the world before Maran called "The World out of Stone" died in Chaos and created this storm. After the Storm the forces of Creation begin to form. The God of Creation begins to be at first. The God of Creation is the primordial force of creation, many also believe that they is the literal Soul of Maran and all others souls parted from them (Little explanation here, the God of Creation can't be logically be male or female and additionally the Taran language isn't usually gendered, it has however gendered pronouns, but they aren't used that often .). This God of Creation goes usually by the names Shrenshidarr or Pher-Tohr. Ssrenshidarr is often said to be the first being, but many sources using the name Pher-Tohr also describe other beings. The Book of the Gods states how Ssrenshidarr creates humanity out of their blood, other scholars believe that although Pher-Tohr created the Genegest, humanity was born either directly from the storm and is thus on the same level as Pher-Tohr and is therefore Pher-Gen, the God that humanity is. Still others believe that humanity was created, but from another being called Pher-Zrur. It goes on with Ssrenshidarr creating the seven Genegest. These Genegest are the God the Taran people pray to, not Ssrenshidarr themself. The seven Genegest were to function as Guardians of the world. Ssrenshidarr left everything in perfect order and his seven children were given the task to preserve this balance. The Tensis Genegewna splits the history in three parts. The Era of the Gods: Lanils Genegewna, the Era of Heroes: Lanils Aritiwnast and the Era of Mankind: Lanils Gengewnashat. The Seven Gods The seven Gods the Genegest are one of the main aspects of Taranistic mythology. This is a little explanation to each of them. Their names are here in the Diadenr, Sylikaian, Illeyan and Imperial Taran language. Afaala/ Afelen/ Afaalä/ Afaala The Goddess of Death, the Dead Mother and the Goddess of the Past. Afaala and Manitalia were to the first to be created. They are the past and the future. Death and Future. The two Sisters of Time were given the task to turn the wheel and the keep Being and Not-Being in Balance, for in the Era of the Gods each and every living thing woke up and died in the evening again. Sleep and Death were once one and the same. Afaala is often called the Dead Mother, because it is believed that she is in Death what your Mother is in Life to you. She is both a motherly figure who guides the souls of the passing into the Underworld and both the Judge of those souls. In the Taran faith the afterlife consists of four options. The first is only reserved for the most pious, they are able to ascend into the sphere of the God they served most in life and stay there untill the Third Betrayal. Those people who lead a righteaus and honourable life, but lacked piety are send back into the mortal realm to be reborn and gain a new life. Those who didn't lead a honourable life and committed sins are send to be punished accordingly and fair. After their punishment they are also sent back to the mortal realm. Last those who committed the most heinous crimes and sins against the Gods themself. These are imprisoned in the Underworld and are there in torture as that all misery they caused will be inflicted upon them, untill the day of the Third Betrayal when mankind betrays itself, then the Maron will rise again and enslave their souls. Manitalia/ Manisha/ Mantalie/ Manitalia The Goddes of the Future, the Grand Seeress and the Goddess of the Sky. Manitalia is not the Goddess of the afterlife or Goddess of rebirth but of the future of mortals lives, that was comes after the now. Manitalia wanders in form of the sun over the world and at night shines her sister the way. She sees down on the world and like we see in into the afar she sees into the future. A special cult to Manitalia, the Kom was blessed with the silver eyes and allowed to see similar to her, but the Keepers of the Silvereye are forbidden to look into the Sky and thus seeing their goddess. Madrahan/ Madrash/ Madran/ Madarakhan The God of Earth the shaper of the Land. Madarakhan and Edelresh are the Mundane Brothers, second in Creation. They struggled with each other and soon had peace just to struggle again. With their struggle they formed the Land and the Sea, the rivers and the Mountains. Ejdneina/ Etshenen/ Edelrech/ Edelresh The God of the sea and Lord of water. Edelresh is like his Brother second in Creation. He is the Lord of the Sea. In older Taran mythology he had a smaller role than later, mostly because as mountain people the old Taran had few connections with the Sea. In his older literation he is the Father to all Springs and the Dancer in the Rain. His Brother is more powerful and cruel and reign supreme in the Dian Mountains, but Edelresh is merciful and gave mankind springs and rain to grow crops and feed them. In later times the roles of Edelresh and Madarakhan reverse. Madarakhan became the gentle God of Fertility who provides the soil to grow food, while Edelresh became the wrathful Lord of the Sea. Insiliét/ Terushet/ Insilit/ Insilit The Goddess of plants and giver of life. The third in Creation were the Siblings of Life, Shachmast Vadunr(Dia) Runist Vjaduwna(ImTar). She was the Mother of all plants and Protector of all Forests. She had a particular liking for humans and is also worshipped as Fertility Goddess. After her death during the Betrayal she was reborn as Teruk. Together with Senjiel (who is himself a descendent of Rashagar) she became the Progenitor to the Taranic Peoples. After the Second Betrayal at the end of the Era of Heroes she ascended and became Insilit again. Maraun/ Maraun/ Maron/ Maron The God of Beasts and Lord of Hunt. The Brother to Insilit is the most controversial of all the Gods. He was once a gentle being who hunted with the wolves and bears of the Great Forests of the First Era, but he was also the Great Shepherd who protected his flock from other hunters. One day he met something different and changed. This was the day of the First Betrayal. He killed his own sister at that day and went out of the woods and seduced mankind to rebell against the other Gods. He promised humanity immortality and if they'd break the cycle of Afaala and Manitalia. Long and hard fought mankind both on Maron's side and against him. In the end the God Rashagar had to become mortal and face death to defeat Maron. From this day on Maron was known as the God of Traitors. The people still worship him, but to mourn him and the worship of his treason is strictly forbidden. Maron later returned during the second Betrayal and one day he will return again during the Third Betrayal and initiate the end of the World. Rashogar/ Rashazhar/ Rasorgir/ Rashagar The Emperor of the Gods, Protector of Mankind and God of Blood. Rashagar was the lastborn of the Gods and tasked to both protect and guard mankind. The Book of the Gods speaks of him as male, but many scholar say that he is both male and female or either and represents humanity as whole. Rashagar was always in conflict with Maron and during the First Betrayal it was his task to kill the Traitor. To do this he had to become mortal and face mortality to truly understand humanity. Just then could he strike the final blow. But in the last moment he also feeled the humane fear. In the last moment he hesitated and although he greatly wounded Maron, he did not kill him. Maron was wounded and fled into the western steppes, one day to return again. After that Rashagar had to stay on the mortal plane untill Maron was finally cast into the Abyss. He lived with the humans and loved them greatly, but the longer he lived the sadder he became. He could take the burden of his own mortality, but not the mortality of others and so he left humanity again and went into the Dian Mountains to live as a hermit. "Outward" Taranism The most prevalent branch of Taranism during the time of the Taran Empire is so called "Outward" Taranism, Mundane Taranism or Arkism or Arkiskanta/Arkigaster how it is called in Tarawnen. Arkism strived to fight the evil in the world directly. The divine order of the Genegest is deemed perfect and therefore the mundane order has made in its image. The legitimation of the Taran Emperors is, as there is a Emperor in Heaven there also shall be an Emperor on earth. Arkism is the parth of creating Balance trough action. Many Arkists believe Taras to be more important than Melendiris. Critics of Arkism argue that through this focus on action and bringing balance to the world, the flaws of the person itself are ignored and thus who too zealously strives for Balance may falsely spread Chaos or Stagnacy. Chylaiism "Inward" Taranism or Chylaiism or Chylaiskanta/Chylaigaster is the other branch of Taranism, mainly practiced in Sylikaidia. The Chylaiist focus on adaption and bringing peace to oneself first. One has to clear themself of imbalance and achieve Melendiris. Chylaiism has fostered a monastic culture of monks and nuns who seek distance from the irregular life within civilisation. During the years of the Sylikaidian Convent the Chylai priests were the quasi rulers of Sylikaidia. Each monastery owned land and was supported by peasants living on this land. The Chylai describe Melendiris like a dance with perfect choreography in which every move serve a purpose. The peasants dance their dance and the Chylai priests theirs. Many Chylai also make the years of wandering. After the novices were fully tought in the chylaiist scriptures they left the monastery again and wandered around the world with very few belongings (Mostly only a robe and their Oath-Bands). Years later they returned to their monasteries and began to teach others. As Sylikaidia became the Empire in the West the Chylai were in stark conflict with the new elite, who arose from a Warrior-cast called Jasawez-Faction. This new elite furthered and supported the mass enslavement of the Maraun people, something the Chylaiists opposed very much. They Jasawez-Faction was supported by the Taran Empire and many of the common sylikaidian also flocked to them. In the end the Chylai Priests decided the go into exile. Most Chylaiists left Darien and Erein and went into Artien, the westernmost and most rural part of Sylikaidia. Just as the Empire of the West collapsed again in the 1580s the Chylai Priests returned and declared the Kingdom of Sylikaidia again, which sparked the Sylikaidian Civil War. A critique of Chylaiism is that they are too passive and just sit by and led evil and imbalance grow in the world and that they are selfcentered.